In a video, Beato broke down the guitar solo buried near the end of Cross' 1980 smash "Ride Like the Wind," arguing that the performance is so low in the original mix that most listeners have never really heard what Cross was playing.
The song was Cross' debut single and became an immediate hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. With Michael McDonald's unmistakable backing vocals and its urgent outlaw narrative about racing toward the border of Mexico, "Ride Like the Wind" helped launch Cross' blockbuster self-titled debut album.
After playing the released version, Beato isolated the guitar track and raised it to a proper level. His reaction was immediate.
Beato compared moments in Cross' playing to Terry Kath, Steve Lukather, Peter Frampton, Angus Young and Jimmy Page, but stressed that the solo still sounds uniquely like Cross.
That may surprise casual listeners who mostly associate Cross with "Sailing" and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)." But Cross was never just a soft-rock vocalist. He played guitar on "Ride Like the Wind," and producer Michael Omartiantold Mix Magazine in 2025 that he insisted Cross take the solo himself after Cross initially wanted to bring in a session guitarist.
Beato argued that the buried solo definitely changed how Cross was perceived.
Cross' self-titled debut album went on to make Grammy history. He became the first artist to win all four general field awards in one night: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. Yet Beato suggested that the "yacht rock" label has sometimes flattened the musicianship behind the record.
By the end of the video, Beato framed the breakdown as a long-overdue correction.
More than four decades after "Ride Like the Wind" first raced up the charts, Beato's verdict is simple: one of the song's best parts has been sitting in plain sight all along, just waiting to be turned up.
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